american songwriters – Get In Her Ears

A bittersweet grunge-infused anthem that tackles feelings of frustration, King Isis has shared their latest single ‘in my ways’. Taken from their upcoming debut EP, scales, which is set for release via Dirty Hit / No Matter later this year, the Oakland-based artist attempts to overcome their jaded thoughts through shimmering guitar sounds, driving beats and relatable lyrics on their new offering.

“‘in my ways’ is about being stuck in a cycle of your own creation,” King Isis explains. “You don’t quite know how to get out of it just yet, and you’re not really trying. It’s willfully ignoring shadows, but it’s ok cuz we’re dancing.” The multi-instrumentalist – whose name pays homage to their great-great-grandmother Omega King, one of the first Black opera singers in Chicago – seems to thrive in the uneasy space between light and shadow on their latest single. This is a theme that permeates their upcoming EP too.

“[My Grandmother’s] name holds a lot of power in my house and in my family,” Isis comments further, “A big part of the reason my artist name incorporates hers is to remind me that there is power in my voice, that music has always been a deep-rooted part of me, and to keep going.” This perseverance is reflected not just in King Isis’ sound, but in their activism too. They volunteer teaching music classes for low-income communities in Los Angeles, and have worked with the FreeStudio Program of Rikers Island, which creates a safe creative space for incarcerated youth and the children of incarcerated adults.

King Isis is an ardent believer in the empowering and healing nature of music, and their authentic and infectious indie-grunge sounds are a tonic for life’s more testing moments.

Listen to ‘in my ways’ below.

Follow King Isis on bandcamp, Spotify, Twitter, Instagram & Facebook

Photo Credit: Cole Maslansky

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

An emotive, bittersweet lament about the cyclical nature of love and life, American songwriter Ethel Cain has shared her latest single ‘Strangers’. The closing track to her highly anticipated debut album, Preacher’s Daughter, which is set for release on 12th May via her own imprint Daughters of Cain, the track is tinged with Cain’s irresistible trademark melancholy, made all the more affecting by her yearning, passionate vocals.

“This is the second song I wrote for this record, without the intention that it would become the ending,” Cain explains about ‘Strangers’. “Looking back, I can’t imagine a more perfect resolution to this lineage. I think subconsciously, this song was always the end of the road. It’s the realization that some things cannot be avoided, only accepted, and that just because it isn’t a happy ending, doesn’t mean it’s a bad one. There is an ending in every beginning, and all things come back around in one strange way or another. You can’t change your past, nor anyone else’s and the only real strength you have in this lifetime is your forgiveness.”

Unravelling over the course of almost six minutes like her previous offering ‘Gibson Girl’, on ‘Strangers’ Cain candidly asks listeners “am I making you feel sick?” over lavish, swirling guitar riffs and atmospheric cymbal crashes. Laced with a palpable desire, it’s a poignant rumination on how time affects our perspective on relationships with others and with ourselves, weaved together by Cain’s exquisite vocal delivery and intimate lyrics.

On Preacher’s Daughter, which she wrote and produced herself, Cain paints a portrait of a brilliant and deeply empathetic artist, committed to telling the story of “a flawed family plagued by human nature and the Southern soil on which it all plays out.”

Listen to ‘Strangers’ below.

Follow Ethel Cain on bandcamp, Spotify, Twitter, Instagram & Facebook

Photo Credit: Ethel Cain

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

Tag: american songwriters

LISTEN: King Isis – ‘in my ways’

Track Of The Day: Ethel Cain – ‘Strangers’